Free Woman, you will always cherish the sea!

Cruising the Baltic Sea

I’m trying to make this a tradition. Write a blog post every time I fly. It sure makes the flight more entertaining. On the other hand, for me, flying somewhere it has always been related to something ending and something starting. This time, my 3 weeks vacation cruising as a guest with my other half, has ended. Here I am, on a plane, on my way home, May 28th, sometime in the evening writing this post which I will publish once I get home.

Being able to visit and spend some quality time onboard as a guest has been a very nice change. I have been working on my previous ship for 3 years and before that, on other similar class ships. Even though I was not working this time, it did give me a good idea on how things go on the “bigger ships”.

Don’t worry, I’m not planning to start making comparisons. I always roll my eyes when people start saying “on my previous ship etc”. No, every ship is different and at the end of the day, I truly believe it’s the crew who make a ship feel good or not.

Meet Elise, 3rd Officer from Belgium and such a dedicated mariner. It was wonderful to finally meet. Good luck in your career, Elise!

I loved my vacation and the days spent as a guest so I wanted to share with you some of those moments in pictures. It made me think of how many times, as a crew I was dreaming of relaxing at the pool and not have to work. I doubt I am the only one. My favorite was the Jacuzzi in the evening and being able to wear flip flops as much as I wanted. I met interesting people and got to go out every port, sometimes twice during our port stay! I stayed in line at the buffet without worrying that it was busy and got to walk around the ship holding a glass of wine. Oh and did I tell you I enjoyed wearing my flip flops a lot! Even on cold Baltic days I was still wearing my flip flops like a pro.

Well I could go on and on about my vacation. I really enjoyed it and got to do so many things we cannot do as crew members. It was a nice feel. Time to head back home now, do laundry, repack and head out back to work in a few days.